Suspect shot, arrested by El Cajon police officer

EL CAJON – A student armed with a handgun and a shotgun opened fire at Granite Hills High School this afternoon, wounding four people before he was shot and wounded by a campus police officer.

A 15-year-old male student who was the most seriously wounded victim suffered "superficial" buckshot wounds to his chest, arm and head after being shot at a distance of three to seven yards, said Dr. Frank Kennedy, director of trauma services at Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego.

The suspect, identified by police as 18-year-old Jason Hoffman, was also taken to Sharp for treatment of gunshot wounds to the jaw and buttocks, Kennedy said. He was scheduled for reconstructive surgery for a broken jaw and cracked teeth.

Both were in serious but stable condition, Kennedy said. The 15-year-old, identified as Andy Yafuso, was expected to remain hospitalized for two to three days, while Hoffman was expected to stay three to four days due to the need for reconstructive surgery.

All others who were hurt suffered minor injuries, authorities said. Three were hit by buckshot, one was wounded by shattered glass and three were treated for emotional distress, said El Cajon Police Chief James Davis. In addition, a pregnant woman went into labor as she arrived to check on her child at the school and a man who suffered chest pains running to the scene was in critical condition.

Those injured were treated on the scene, at Mercy Medical Center in Hillcrest, at UCSD Medical Center in Hillcrest and at Grossmont Hospital in La Mesa, authorities said.

More than 2,800 students at the school were evacuated to nearby John F. Kennedy Park on Madison Avenue.

The suspect in that case, Charles "Andy" Williams, 15, of Santana, is scheduled to file a plea in San Diego County Superior Court on Monday.

The attack

Thursday's incident began when the shooter opened fire outside Granite Hills High's administration building at 12:55 p.m., the beginning of fifth period at the school, said school Principal Georgette Torres.

Student Chris Weston, 17, a junior, said he saw a large man get out of a car in the bus parking lot, crouch "sniper style" and fire several blasts from a 12-gauge shotgun in the general direction of Vice Principal Daniel Barnes.

"They came that close to me," Weston said, holding two fingers narrowly apart. "I felt the wind from them."

The shooter fired at least eight times, then loaded two more shells into the shotgun and fired again, Weston said. He appeared to be shooting randomly. He also had a .22-caliber pistol.

Officers on campus

El Cajon police Officer Rich Agundez Jr., who had been assigned to work at the school that day and was in the administration building, heard the shots, walked to a glass door and saw the shooter in the quad area east of the building, El Cajon police Capt. William McClurg said.

Agundez and the gunman traded shots through the doorway, then Agundez went outside and pursued the gunman in what what McClurg described as "a slight running gunbattle."

GROSSMONT UNIFIED

Officer Rich Agundez Jr.

San Diego County sheriff's Deputy Angela Pearl, who was on campus for an unrelated investigation, joined in the pursuit, McClurg said.

Hoffman was hit at least twice and fell. Agundez and Pearl then arrested him.

"Agent Agundez is the hero of the day," Torres said. "He is certainly our hero."

Motive unknown

The motive for the attack was unknown, authorities said. It wasn't clear where the guns used in the attack came from.

One student described Hoffman as a loner who was into wrestling. "People call him 'The Rock,' " the student said.

Ward and McClurg said there was no evidence Hoffman had made any threats before the attack.

Both said they couldn't discuss Hoffman's history at the school, citing student confidentiality.

School reaction

Torres said she was meeting in her office with several students when "we heard several popping sounds."

Because of the Santana High School shooting earlier in the month, school officials had met with El Cajon police representatives on March 14 to update their crisis plan for locking down the school.

"That (plan) did go into action today and it did work perfectly," Torres said.

Everyone "went crazy" in Allison Williams' journalism class when the announcement came over, said Williams, 14, a freshman. She said she had initially thought the loud bangs had come from someone dropping something.

The class moved into the school newspaper's office and passed around cell phones so students could call home and tell their parents they were all right, she said. One girl who had had a friend shot at Santana High School became hysterical.

"I'm gonna go home, make myself a cup of tea and curl into a little ball in my bed and hope when I wake up this has all been a terrible nightmare," Williams said.

Officers initially conducted a room-by-room search of the 60-acre campus for other shooters, but found none.

Police swept the campus twice for bombs or other devices and didn't find any, McClurg said.

Friends and family

Later, hundreds of evacuated students milled around the park and a baseball diamond, crying, calling out the names of friends and phoning their parents on mobile phones and waiting to be picked up to go home.

Esme Agiler, 15, said the whole thing happened so fast she could barely remember anything.

"It was scary. I'm a little shocked right now. I didn't think that anything like that could happen here because I thought it was over with Santana High," Agiler said. "I thought people had learned, but obviously they haven't."

Counselors were called in for students at both Granite Hills and at Santana High.

Granite Hills High will be closed Friday but will reopen Monday, Torres said.

The Boys and Girls Club of El Cajon at 1171 East Madison Ave. will be available for counseling at 8 a.m. Friday for parents and students, Torres said. It will probably also be open for parents on Saturday.

A parents meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday at the school, she said.

Several parents said the incident, following so closely after the Santana shooting, was forcing them to rethink sending their children to public school.

"When it hits your own town, it's the scariest thing," said Marilyn Albert, whose son, Ren, 16, attends Granite Hills. "I'm just glad that my son's OK and I'm sorry for anyone that is hurt. Home schooling is starting to sound really good."